“I will not blame them because the wicket was a bit tricky but we have to expect more from them,” he said. “We have to have a good start and I’m expecting a much better performance than that.

“We have batsmen who can score big runs like Mohammed Usman, who can hit sixes and fours. So the plan would be to be there until the 30th over with just loss of two or three wickets because we have those kind of batsmen who can take the total even higher later in the
innings.”

He added: “But I can’t take nothing away from the guys on Monday. It was a good performance from the whole team and it was a good job from the bowlers in restricting them to 182.

While the momentum will be with the UAE, Mustafa is fully aware that his team will be ready for whatever is thrown against them by the Dutch, who sit top of the World Cricket League Championship in this format.

“They will come hard at us and we are expecting that,” he said. “It will be a good match and we are expecting a quick wicket because Monday’s game the wicket was a bit uneven.

“We will be definitely concentrated come the game and Inshallah we can go out there and win the series with a match to spare.”

For Dougie Brown, it was his first win as head coach, having won eight games as interim.

The 47-year-old says there’s still areas of improvement. “Throughout the course of the day, we played some good cricket and there are some areas that we have to improve on in the second game,” said the ex-Warwickshire boss.

The result continued the UAE’s recent resurgence with their latest win being their ninth under head coach Dougie Brown since he was in charge as interim from February.

Prior to the game, Brown played down suggestions of his team being the favourites for the series and was fully wary of the Netherlands, who sit top of the World Cricket League Championship in this format.

Although they didn’t get any warm-up matches after arriving in the Dutch capital last week, it didn’t seem to have an effect on his team.

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UAE head coach Dougie Brown wants team effort to beat Netherlands

UAE head coach Dougie Brown has urged his players to“play at the top of their game as a team” and adjust to conditions quickly if they want to seal a series win against the Netherlands.

The two nations meet on Monday in the first of the three-match 50-over series in Amsterdam with the tourists looking to continue their good form under Brown.

Under his helm as interim, the team won eight of 12 matches but face a stern test to add to that record with the Dutch sitting top of the 50-over World Cricket League Championship.

The UAE arrived on Wednesday and although heavy rain washed out practice for one day, Brown is hopeful his troops can “hit the ground running”. “We have to be flexible and make adjustments quickly,” said the 47-year-old.

“We have not played a match in these conditions but we have practised although that is different to playing. Time hasn’t allowed us to get much match practice under our belt so we’re going to have to make adjustments quickly.

“We have to be competitive in these conditions as practice is completely different to what you’re faced in match situations.”

The Dutch come into the game on the back of a 2-1 home series loss to Zimbabwe in this format but Brown is fully aware of the threats posed by the hosts.

“We are coming into someone else’s conditions and that will be a challenge,” he said. “But it’s a challenge that we are prepared for and I see it as an opportunity. We’re definitely not favourites. The Dutch are playing really good cricket. We know if we want to compete with them, we have to play at the top of our game as a team to win the series.”

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